Arts & Entertainment

‘Moonlight’ lands eight Oscar noms, ‘La La Land’ ties all-time record

the LGBT-themed film received Best Picture, Best Director noms

Published

10 years ago

January 24, 2017

Mariah Cooper

(‘Moonlight.’ Screenshot via YouTube)

“Moonlight” secured its place among the top nominated films for the 89th annual Academy Awards ,earning eight total nominations.

The film, which follows a gay man in three stages of his life, scored the coveted Best Picture nomination, Best Director for Barry Jenkins, Actor in a Supporting Role for Mahershala Ali, Actress in a Supporting Role for Naomie Harris and Adapted Screenplay.

“La La Land” received 14 nominations, tying with “Titanic” and “All About Eve” for most nominations ever. The film received a nomination for Best Picture, Best Director for Damien Chazelle and Best Actor and Best Actress for leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

“Moonlight” and “La La Land” will compete against “Arrival,” “Fences,” “Hackshaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water,” “Hidden Figures,” “Lion” and “Manchester by the Sea” for Best Picture.

The ceremony airs on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

BEST PICTURE

“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

BEST DIRECTOR
Denis Villeneuve- “Arrival”
Mel Gibson- “Hacksaw Ridge”
Damien Chazelle- “La La Land”
Kenneth Lonergan- “Manchester by the Sea”
Barry Jenkins- “Moonlight”

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck- “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield- “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling- “La La Land”
Viggo Mortensen- “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington- “Fences”

BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert- “Elle”
Ruth Negga- “Loving”
Natalie Portman- “Jackie”
Emma Stone- “La La Land”
Meryl Streep- “Florence Foster Jenkins”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali- “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges- “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges- “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel- “Lion”
Michael Shannon- “Nocturnal Animals”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis- “Fences”
Naomie Harris- “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman- “Lion”
Octavia Spencer- “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams- “Manchester by the Sea”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“20th Century Women”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Arrival”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”

BEST FILM EDITING
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“Moonlight”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Doctor Strange”
“The Jungle Book”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Arrival”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Hail, Caesar!”
“La La Land”
“Passengers”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Allied”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“La La Land”

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
“A Man Called Ove”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Passengers”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),”- “La La Land”
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,”- “Trolls”
“City of Stars,”- “La La Land”
“The Empty Chair,”- “Jim: The James Foley Story”
“How Far I’ll Go,”- “Moana”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“The Red Turtle”
“Zootopia”

Up Next

Model Hanne Gaby Odiele comes out as intersex

Don't Miss

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are officially a couple in new series

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

14 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.